The Stuff of Legends
by eClair23
Summary: Rose and the Doctor are finally reunited. A series of snapshots of their lives after Doomsday.
1. Chapter 1

"You'd better put this on," the Doctor handed Donna a ring. "Bio damper."

Donna made a face. "What?!"

"Simply put, it'll neutralize those parts of your inferior human biology that would activate the temporal sensors on their plasma residue detectors, and then..." the Doctor noticed her dazed look and realized that maybe she didn't speak Timelord. "Oh, well, it, um, it'll keep those evil Santa things from finding you."

"Thanks." She nodded curtly.

He slipped the ring onto her finger, then did a double-take. That wasn't the bio damper ring! That was- oh, nevermind... He must've grabbed the wrong ring. Oops. Too late now. If he switched the rings now, Donna would ask questions he really didn't want to answer. He silently prayed that she wouldn't question anything. Of course, the next thing out of her mouth was the very question he had been dreading.

"Why've you got a ring?"

He groaned. "That is none of your business, young lady."

"Oi, spaceman! Watch it!" She acted offended, then pressed on. "Is there... someone special?" She looked at him searchingly.

He avoided her gaze. "Yeah, there _was_. But I- she- I don't want to talk about it. Now, can we please get back to the issue at hand?"

"Fine. One more question, though."

Ugh, here she went again. Were all humans this inquisitive? Rose was inquisitive, but never downright nosy!

"Fine. Let's get it over with. What?" He asked, irritated.

"Did you love her?"

He chuckled softly at her naïveté and his face softened. "Yeah. Of course I did. I was going to propose on Diamata, under the pink sky, with the moon setting over the chocolate lake, on top of the strawberry grass, and then- no. Not anymore. I lost her. She's gone, because of me." He buried his face in his hands.

"What- what happened to her? Doctor?"

He stared into space, images flashing in his mind, slowly wearing his defenses down.

"I lost her. She's gone. That's it."

His eyes took on a glazed over and haunted look. He ran his hands through his messy, disheveled hair. He murmured to himself, almost incoherently, "Daleks, and Cybermen, the Void, Pete's World, oh, Rose! I'm burning up a sun... I lo-" He shook his head as if trying to block the stream of thoughts and images invading his brain. He was shaking violently.

"I never told her. I had so many chances, and I never told her." He rubbed his face with his hands.

"You never told her what?" Donna touched his shoulder tenderly.

He couldn't help remembering the most prominent opportunity that he had missed. He could still see the tears in Rose's eyes.

_"But... Sarah Jane... you were that close to her once, and now... you never even mention her. Why not?" Rose was on the verge of tears._

_"I don't age. I regenerate. But humans decay. You wither and you die. Imagine watching that happen to someone who you l-"_

"Someone who you... love." He mouthed. "I... _love_ her. Rose Tyler, I love you to Raxicoricofallapatorious and back! Why can't you be here? It's all my fault. I have to tell you!" He was lost inside his head.

Donna's thumb grazed his shoulder calmingly. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have pried. I'm sorry, Doctor."

He snapped back to reality and, as per usual, tried to cover up his deep sadness with his bright and chipper attitude. "Huh? Oh, it's alright. Now, where were we?"

"Er- Evil Santas." Donna was more than a bit confused and put-off by this point.

"Right then. Allons-y!"

"You'd better put this on," the Doctor handed Donna a ring. "Bio damper."


	2. Chapter 2

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Donna asked slyly, nodding behind him.

He turned around and saw his beautiful blonde angel beaming at him. Could it really be? It couldn't be her. Really? There was only one way to tell. He ran toward her, faster than he had ever run, in all of his nine hundred years of life. She dropped her gun and sprinted toward him. They collided in a hug tighter and longer than they had ever shared before. They both exploded into tears. She rubbed circles on his back, comforting him. He traced the Gallifreyan symbol for "I love you" over and over on her back, trying desperately to tell her everything he hadn't been able to say.

"It's me, I promise. I'm here, Doctor."

He held her at arm's length and brushed her hair out of her face fondly. She rubbed his hand with her thumb soothingly and closed her eyes as he wiped the tears from her face. He breathed in deeply, rubbing his puffy eyes.

He drank in the sight of her beautiful, perfect face, framed by her soft blonde hair. She affectionately ruffled his hair. They both grinned wider than either one had in the last months and embraced again. He spun her around as she giggled at the memory of the only other time he'd ever done that: the time he'd defeated the devil and she wasn't sure he would ever come back. They clutched each other like a lifeline. They couldn't stop smiling.

He laced their hands together as they turned to face the others, who were all grinning at the joyful reunion. They beamed at each other and ran off to save the world, just like old times.

The Doctor in the TARDIS, with Rose Tyler, just as it should be...

The Doctor mused alone in the control room of the TARDIS. He was in shock. She couldn't possibly be back, could she? Dimension jumping was theoretically impossible. Leave it to Rose to break the rules. He chuckled. She'd always been a bit of a rule-breaker and a rebel. Good for her, breaking dimension jumping rules just to see him again.

Rose's slim figure appeared in the doorway, spotlighted by the light streaming out of the control room.

"Doctor?" Her soft voice broke his train of thought. She spoke cautiously, as if he might send her away or break any moment.

"Come in, Rose. We've got a lot to talk about, don't we?" He patted a chair next to him invitingly.

Rose sat. He reached for her hand instinctively, just like he used to do. She squeezed his hand back gently.

"All right, then. Where should we start?"

"At the beginning."

"The _very _beginning? Rose, we'll be here for a very _long _time if we start there."

"Not _that_ far back, silly! I meant the beginning of our, erm, separation."

"All right, what do you want to know?"

"Just one thing. You never, um, well you never finished that sentence that day on the beach. I need to know how it ends."

"I know, Rose. Look at me."

She obliged, rubbing his hand soothingly with her fingers. Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes.

He took a deep breath. "Rose Tyler, I love you."

"I love you, too." The tears were flowing freely down her face by now.

"My Rose... Come here." He pulled her close and rubbed circles on her back soothingly. "I love you to Raxicoricofallapatorious and back. To the end of the universe and time itself."

She let out a huge sob. "My Doctor... I know."

"I know, my sweet Rose, and I'm so sorry I didn't tell you. I should've told you every chance I got, but I was a coward. I am so so sorry."

Rose sobbed even harder. "It wasn't your fault. You've got nothin' to apologize for. And Doctor, you are the _least_ cowardly man I have _ever_ met, so stop talkin' about yourself that way, okay?"

"'Kay," he muttered.

She took a long, deep look into his eyes, making sure he was alright. That was what they did. Each made sure the other was okay.

"I missed you so much," she buried her face in his shoulder. "I thought I was going to die every day I couldn't see you and touch you and talk to you..."

"I know. I know," he traced beautiful words in his language on her back soothingly. "I'm here. It's okay, just breathe."

Neither one of them had any idea how long they sat there in the control room, just breathing shakily until their breathing became more rhythmic and Rose fell asleep right there in his arms. He chuckled and carried her to her old room, tucked her in, and kissed her forehead tenderly before going to bed just down the hallway.


	3. Chapter 3

"Merry Christmas, Rose!" The Doctor banged loudly on Rose's bedroom door. "It's Christmas! Christmas, Rose! Ah, I just _love _Christmas!"

Rose flopped over in bed. "All right, all right, I'm up!" she called good-naturedly.

"Hooray! I'll be in the kitchen, making us some hot chocolate. Meet me in the library." He skipped away, whistling cheerfully.

Rose dressed quickly in red and green and hurried to meet the Doctor in the library, carrying two beautifully wrapped presents. The library door was closed. She set down the gifts and knocked softly. "Doctor?"

"C'mon in, Rose." She turned the knob and toed the door open, grabbing her presents as she entered. "I was just about to put the star on the tree." He turned around excitedly and grinned. She beamed back at him.

"Merry Christmas, Doctor!"

"Merry Christmas, Rose Tyler! You are _fantastic!_" He was grinning from ear to ear.

"Ah, it's good to be home. And you're not too bad yourself," she teased.

"Oi! That's not very nice!"

"I'm joking," she giggled. "You're wonderful."

"You want to put the star on?" He offered the glittering golden star to her.

She nodded eagerly, depositing the presents on the sofa. Putting the star on the tree was her favorite part of Christmas decorating. That was one thing she loved about the Doctor. He remembered the tiny, seemingly meaningless things about everybody, especially her.

She placed the star firmly on the tree and plopped onto the couch next to the gifts she'd set down. She patted the couch invitingly and he sat obediently, pulling a box out of his pocket (they were bigger on the inside).

"You go first," Rose prompted.

The Doctor handed her the carefully wrapped package, a rectangular box. She tore away the thin paper to reveal a new bottle of her favorite perfume. She grinned. "Thanks! I was almost out."

He blushed. "I know."

She laughed. "My turn! Here, open this one first." She shoved a bag into his hands. He threw away the tissue paper to reveal a bottle of extra strength hair gel (his favorite kind; his hair stayed soft even _with_ all the product in it. It was impressive for those tiny stupid apes!) and a king-sized package of Jelly Babies, a favorite sweet of one of his former incarnations.

"Thanks, Rose! I love it!"

"Oh, one more thing." She placed the larger package in his outstretched hands.

He eagerly ripped the paper and gasped when he saw what was underneath: a full, hard-cover set of the Harry Potter books _and_ the full set of movies. He took out the seventh book and stroked it. "I cried reading this one," he muttered.

"I know," Rose murmured.

"Right then, on to my last present. Stand up, please."

She complied, looking somewhat confused.

The Doctor stood and pulled another package from his pocket. He knelt and popped the box open, revealing the most stunning ring Rose had ever seen. It was a simple gold band with three diamonds, one big one in the center, with two smaller ones on either side. On the inside was inscribed in Gallifreyan, "Rose Tyler, I love you." Rose caught her breath. "Doctor, I-"

He cut her off. "Rose Tyler, I have waited for so long to tell you this and give you this ring, but I wanted to give you time to settle in again. So I waited. But I can't wait anymore. Rose Tyler, I love you. Will you marry me?"

Rose was sobbing by this point. "Yes!" she cried tearfully. "Yes, yes, of course! Oh, Doctor..."

They were both shaking as he slid the ring gently onto her finger.

Their eyes met, chocolate on chocolate and they looked at each other for a split second before he leaned down and kissed her. For real. Because he wanted to, not because she was possessed by Cassandra or to save her life. Simply because there was no other way to describe his feelings for her.

She pulled away.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just... what does the inscription say?"

"If you must know, it says, 'Rose Tyler, I love you.'"

"I believe that deserves a reply, then. I love you, too."

He kissed her again.

When they broke away, he wrapped his arms around her in a long embrace. Neither one broke the comfortable silence that had settled over them. She rested her head on his chest, contentedly listening to his rhythmic heartbeats.

The Doctor laced their hands together. "Wanna go test out these new movies? We could stay up all night, have a marathon..."

"Mmmm. Sounds lovely... Whatever happened to our hot chocolate?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Forgot."

" 'S fine. I'll go make some and get us some popcorn, too. I'll come 'round to the theater in a bit."


	4. Chapter 4

"I've got the popcorn!" Rose announced excitedly. "You didn't start without me, did you?" She teased, knowing how eager he was to watch the films. She handed him his hot chocolate and popcorn, giggling.

"What? Since when do I start movies without you?" The Doctor made an indignant face.

"Let's see, there was that one time with Star Wars, and then that other time with Lord of the Rings, and then-"

He cut her off. "All right, fine. Granted, it _has_ happened before, but no, it's still on the menu."

"Why's the remote all the way across the room, Doctor?" Rose bent to pick it up.

"Um, well, funny story, that... all right, fine. I got a tad impatient while you were gone, so I chucked it over there so I couldn't start without you. Satisfied?"

"Very." She settled down on the couch next to him and sipped her hot chocolate contentedly.

The Doctor hit play.

By the time the final movie came around, Rose was sobbing into his shoulder. He held her close and tried to comfort her even though he was silently crying as well. She looked up at him. "Are you crying, Doctor?"

"No!" He protested. "I'm simply, erm, respecting the dead properly."

She laughed and squeezed his hand. " 'S okay, I was crying, too."

As the final credits rolled, he turned off the television and beamed at her.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing, I'm just really, _really_ glad you're back."

"Me too, Doctor." She turned to face him. "So, how long has it been for you? Since we saw each other last, I mean."

"I dunno, really. Guess I sort of lost track of time without you here. How long was it for you?"

"A year and a half. A _very long_ year and a half. Did you ever feel like sometimes it felt like only minutes since we last spoke and other times it felt like years?"

"Yeah," he answered quietly. "It usually felt like years, though."

"Hey, I had a lovely time tonight, but I think I'm gonna go to bed. I'm exhausted. Thanks for everything. It was the best Christmas I've ever had. 'Night."

The next morning, Rose wandered into the kitchen to find that the Doctor had made eggs, bacon, and pancakes for breakfast.

"Good morning!" he greeted her in usual cheerful fashion.

"Good morning. Did you make all this by yourself?"

"Yep." He answered shortly.

The TARDIS rumbled in protest.

"All right, fine, the TARDIS helped, a bit. But I _did_ put the chocolate chips in the pancakes, just like you like it." He grinned proudly.

"Sounds lovely," Rose took a bite. Wow. The pancakes truly were heavenly. "These are great! I've never tasted anything like this!"

"'Course you haven't. That's Swiss chocolate, straight from the chocolatiers. Only the best chocolate for you!"

"That was really, truly sweet, Doctor." Rose kissed his cheek affectionately. "So, I was wondering, since I didn't have the chance to bring all my stuff with me, you think I could pop over to Mum's flat and pack some stuff?"

"I don't see why not. I'll come with you, just in case it's locked. If it is, we'll need this," he held up the sonic screwdriver.

"You know, it is okay to go with me somewhere without making up some lame reason. I like having you around. It can be that simple! C'mon, mister!" She tugged his hand and led him out of the TARDIS.

"The Powell Estate..." Rose stared at her surroundings.

"What? Wrong time?" The Doctor had noticed her attention to her environment.

"No, it's perfect, I just... this was home for so long. I'm really gonna miss it..." She trailed off, her eyes glistening with tears.

"C'mere," he enfolded her in his arms. "But the TARDIS is your home now, right? I know it's not the same, but if there's anything I can do to help-"

"The TARDIS _is_ home, Doctor. I grew up here, though, and there are so many memories here, but my home is with you. It'll be okay. Shall we go on, Sir Doctor of TARDIS?"

"Of course, Dame Rose Marion Tyler! Allons-y!"

The Doctor lugged her luggage down the stairs. "What've you got in here anyway, rocks?"

Rose rolled her eyes. "Nope, just enough luggage to last me forever! I promised you forever, didn't I? And all the luggage that comes with it."

He laughed. "By the way, your room is just as you left it. I went in there a couple of times after you left to take some pictures from your bulletin board. I'll give them back."

"No, it's fine. Keep 'em. There'll be plenty of new pictures to hang, I'm sure."

He dragged her stuff down the hallway to her room and dropped it, dramatically sighing in relief. "Phew."

"Oh, knock it off, it wasn't that bad!" Rose unzipped one of the bags and extracted some photos.

She tacked one of them onto her bulletin board. It was the same picture the Doctor had in his bedroom in a frame. It was of them in London during the Olympics, grinning from ear to ear. "Remember this?"

"How could I forget? You complimented a _ginger_ cat and I thought you were talking to me... I _was_ experimenting with back-combing, though!" He protested.

She swatted his arm. "I noticed, silly! I just didn't say anything because that ego of yours is quite big enough already, thank you very much!"

"Oi! That was rude!"

"Rude and not ginger... tsk, tsk. Oh, come off it, Doctor, I'm only joking!" Rose teased.

They laughed.

"I love you even though you aren't ginger," Rose declared.

"Ditto. Maybe someday..." he said wistfully.


	5. Chapter 5

They'd been married for a year. But sometimes the nightmares still came. Those were the hard nights. The ones where one or both of them would wake up, covered in sweat and crying their heart out. The next morning they'd sleep in and have a stay-in day, maybe watch a few movies. They were always careful not to bring up the nightmares, though. Except for the rare occasions where the victim wanted to talk it out, which usually ended with tears all around and maybe being so exhausted from crying that they fell asleep in the library on the couch. The TARDIS did her best to help out by surprising them with things like breakfast in bed, or transporting a television into their room which they'd both swear wasn't there when they'd fallen asleep. They were making it. The nightmares were becoming fewer and farther between. But they still came.

They woke up one night, crying. Her eyes were puffy and red and her face swollen from all the tears that had marred her face during the night. His face was soaking wet with tears and he'd screamed her name more than once during the night. Somehow in the utter darkness, their eyes found and locked onto each other.

"What is it?" they both whispered quietly.

"I lost you again." They said in unison.

"Oh, c'mere." They wrapped their arms around each other, struggling to breathe through the tears, each constantly reminding the other that they were still there. He traced the Gallifreyan symbol for "I love you" onto her back over and over, while she muttered, "forever" over and over in his ear. Those were their promises: forever and I love you. And they would never break them.


	6. Chapter 6

But sixty-five years later, Rose was eighty-six and very weak. She still insisted on traveling with her beloved Doctor. He hated seeing her like that, old and frail, still the beautiful woman he had grown to love so dearly, but unable to fight aliens and spend all of her time running around like he knew she loved to do. He had shed many tears about having to say goodbye to her forever before long. He had solutions to so many problems, but not to the one for which he longed so desperately to find a solution. He had traveled to countless planets trying to find a solution. He was grasping at straws, praying for a solution. Finally, he set the TARDIS's course to "random" and had landed on earth in the middle of an archaeologist expedition. He ducked out of the TARDIS and nearly ran into a pretty woman with curly, sandy colored hair.

"Oh! Sorry!" she muttered.

"Sorry, but can you tell me where I am? And _when_ I am?" he inquired.

"Doctor? _The_ Doctor?"

He nodded. "Sorry, do I know you?"

"Hello, sweetie. Oh, where are my manners? Professor River Song, archaeologist. You're on earth, year four-thousand and fifty-three. Welcome to our digsite!"

She gave him the tour, which concluded in a huge tent supported by tall metal beams. "So, that's the tour. Any questions?"

"Actually, yes. Do you know of anything that could possibly help my wife? You see, I'm a Time Lord, and my wife, Rose Tyler, is a human, and she's dying. Can you help me? Please?"

"I don't know what I can do, I mean, I'm not a doctor…"

A creaking sound came from up above and River screamed as one of the supporting metal beams came crashing down on her and pinned her to the ground. The Doctor rushed to her side and tried to lift the pole, but to no avail.

"I lied, Doctor. I can help. Bring her here."

He dashed into the TARDIS and pulled Rose as fast as she could go over to River Song.

"Doctor, I lied to you. I can help her. I am a time lady. My parents were companions of yours in a different time stream. I was conceived in the TARDIS, in the time vortex. I can regenerate, but I am giving my remaining regenerations to you, Rose Tyler, so that you can be with the Doctor forever."

As River breathed her last, a yellowish light emerged from her mouth and entered Rose. Rose's eyes began to glow and the Doctor watched as the years seemed to roll back and she was restored to the beautiful young woman she was when she first came aboard the TARDIS. This time, thanks to River, he would never have to say goodbye to Rose again. A complete stranger had just saved his beloved wife's life and they would never be separated again. They could journey through time and space forever.

He pulled her into a tight embrace, tears soaking his face.

"I thought I was going to lose you again," he wept.

"Never. I promised you forever, and I'm keeping that promise."


End file.
